Atlaspheres
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Atlaspheres is an event played in several incarnations of the television series Gladiators. In this event, all participants are enclosed in Atlaspheres, heavy steel balls 2 metres in diameter. It is the contenders aim to use their Atlasphere to roll over scoring pods on the floor and the Gladiators job to prevent it.
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[edit] Rules
Two contenders face two Gladiators and begind on ramps in opposite corners of the playing field. On the whistle, all participants must roll their Atlasphere to the centre for a clash. On the floor are four scoring pods placed in a diamond shape. The contenders must roll their Atlasphere over as many scoring pods as possible within 60 seconds.
It is the Gladiators job to mark the contenders out of the scoring pods. A Gladiator may only mark their allocated contender and are not allowed to block them into a corner or hold them in a position for longer than 10 seconds.
Contenders must successfully roll over the centre of the pod to trigger a sensor. Only a successful 'centering' will trigger a CO2 emission which signifies a contender score. Contenders are not allowed to score on the same pod on consecutive attempts unless they have attempted to acore on another pod an have been thwarted.
[edit] International differences
Scoring for a successful centering varied across the different countries. America awarded 1,2 and 3 points per score over the course of it's initial run. The UK awarded 3 points throughout it's run whereas Australia awarded 2 points during it's initial run. Both American and Australian revivals currently operate on the basis of 2 points per score.
The American name for this event is Atlasphere (singular). It should be noted that the Australian revival also uses the singular version.
Atlaspheres was played in South Africa. In a stark difference to the original concept, contenders had to knock down giant bowling pins instead of rolling over pods.
The event was also played in Sweden under the name Ihmiskuula.
[edit] Event History
[edit] America
Years active: 1990-1994, 2008(ii)-
Atlaspheres was first introduced during the second season (1990) run of American Gladiators. During it's first series, contenders had to rest their Atlasphere on the pod sensor for a second and Gladiators commenced the game on one of the scoring pods. This caused players to get stuck on the pods and the rule was amended the next year in that the Atlapshere had to cleanly go over the centre in order to score, with two clouds of smoky fog being emitted along with a glowing ring of lights to indicate a successful score. In addition, Gladiators were moved to the opposite croners as became the norm of the event.
In the fifth series of American Gladiator's original run, the starting ramps where no longer used. The event was retired in American from Season 6.
Atlaspheres is set to return in the second series of the 2008 American revival. The event is currently listed on NBC's website as "Altrasphere." Whether this is a typing error or whether the event has been renamed is unknown.
[edit] UK
Years active: 1992-1999
Atlaspheres was the very first event to be played during the show's run and was played throughout all eight series. The event's signature tune was "We will rock you" by Queen which was played before most matches with John Anderson then checking that the pods emitted smoke.
The event received a slight make over in the second series (1993) with a single cloud of CO2 beinf released as opposed to two diagonal spurts. In addition, the pods had red stripes added to them. A variety of different coloured Atlaspheres were used during the shows run, with Grey for Gladiators and a combination of red, orange, yellow and blue for contenders. In series 3 (1994), new 'turbo charged' Atlaspheres were introduced.
The event was sometimes modified for special shows, with 2 Gladiators on ramps facing off against 3 contenders (placed in the centre) and later 3 Gladiators starting off on the arena floor directly in front of 3 contenders.
Atlaspheres was modified for the junior Gladiators show Train 2 Win. In this modification, one Atlasphere was used as a giant bolwing ball, attempting to knock down 10 giant bowling pins placed at the end of the arena.
Atlaspheres had been planned to appear in the 2008 revival, with the events signature tune being played in television adverts, but had to be scrapped due to the lack of a floor space big enough for the event.
[edit] Australia
Years active: 1995-1997, 2008-
Atlaspheres was introduced in the first series and ran for all three series. It also returned for the first series of the 2008 revival.
